


On Par

by evitably



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Neglect, Symbiotic Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-20 22:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evitably/pseuds/evitably
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>TG: whaaaat do u think</i>
  <br/>
  <i>TG: it would be like</i>
  <br/>
  <i>TG: if we had kids</i>
  <br/>
  <i>TT: Inconvenient, mostly.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>TT: Two perfect little freaks of nature raised by people who've clearly got no business bringin' up anybody. </i>
</p><p>Mom and Bro are equally terrible parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Par

**Author's Note:**

> Written in reaction for [razzda's artwork](http://razzda.tumblr.com/post/16304338329/); originally posted [here](http://doughtier.tumblr.com/post/37734349784).

Hundreds of miles away and not knowing each other, Bro and Mom are equally terrible parents. 

Sometime in the future, Rose and Dave will be grateful for it -- it puts them on equal footing and drives home that yes, they really are brother and sister.

*

Rose thinks Mom loved her. Telling whether it's true or not is hard though, because for the most part, Mom wasn't there. Mom would make sure Rose had clothes and food and everything but her attention.

She'd been lonely, Rose would later tell Dave. She'd been lonely because Rose wasn't enough.

Unlike Rose, Dave _knows_  Bro loved him. He'd loved Dave so fucking much that he'd devoured Dave and made him his. Bro is in everything Dave did, every turn of phrase and movement and muscle.

So yeah, maybe he hadn't always had food to eat at home, and fine, he bled once or twice or a hundred times because he'd missed a step and Bro cut at him, but at the end of day he knew that if he came to Bro and talked, Bro would listen.

Yet when Rose talks about Bro, Dave stays silent.

*

There was a time after Mom got Rose that everything would be fine and that she'd make an excellent parent. She could teach Rose how to be smart and successful and happy.

Mom doesn't know when that changes. Perhaps it's when Rose toddles over and kisses her on the cheek and Mom realizes she's exclusively responsible for another person's well-being. Perhaps it's because Rose needs to learn before she can hold a conversation Mom is interested in.

When Mom drinks, it's easy to forget. Easier to do. The problem is that after Rose has been turned away once, she doesn't return.

*

It takes Bro approximately a day to realize how _inconvenient_  babies are. Maybe a little less, maybe a little more, but the bottom line is just the same: Dave needs the constant care and attention that cramp Bro's style.

The solution for that is so fucking simple that it's easy to get lost in. What would be the harm if he took Dave with him up to the roof when he trains, or near his tables when he makes music? To work on his site when Dave sleeps right next to him? 

When Dave grows up, Bro would figure something out, he thinks. Except he never does. So it's a little weird that Dave's learning swordfighting when he doesn't even reach Bro's chest, and his jams are nothing to scoff at. Bro shares his life with Dave and gives his little bro all that he has.

It's all good, he thinks.


End file.
